Sunday, June 28, 2009

To say that I love spray paint and hot glue would be an immense understatement of the absolute adoration I feel towards these two gold medal decorating helpers. I love them so much I would write them an ode and plant fields of flowers in their name if only they asked.

I seriously don’t know what I would do without them.

Here are two prime examples of the awesomeness that is hot glue and spray paint (and these aren’t even that great).

Spray Paint:

Ugly wood box I found at the thrift store for $2 bucks:

Two quick coats of the leftover spray paint I used in my earring holder DIY and presto:

Much better.

Hot Glue:

When I was at the craft store stocking up on some alligator clips, I found these adorable iron-on bird patches:

In little more then the time it took for the hot glue to heat up, I had two new hair clips:

The cool thing about alligator clips is they can be used for anything.

So what are you waiting for? All you need is a little glue and some paint. The possibilities are endless....

Check out some of the before and afters over at Design*Sponge to get a good idea at how paint can completely transform something.

Friday, June 19, 2009

I seriously think I've fallen in love. And if she wasn't married already, I would move to wherever she lives and court her till she finally gave in to my bubbly personality and cooked only for me. Her recipes are that good.

Last night I made her version of chicken scallopine. All I can say is....mmmmm....

I will post the recipe below in case any one's interested. (Head over to Pioneer Woman's to find step by step photos.)

As usual I made a few changes. I decided to bread my chicken in my usual flour - egg - breadcrumb system and then pan fried the cutlets. This time I tried using Panko breadcrumbs instead of the usual and they were AMAZING. I'll never use any other breadcrumb to coat my chicken. Ever.

It made the chicken flavorful and crunchy in a way that regular bread crumbs can't achieve. I'm day dreaming about eating them again as I type this. Seriously, I think I might start sporting a mustache and calling myself colonel. Cause I'm a chicken cooking ninja.

ummm...where was I? Oh, I also substituted evaporated milk for the heavy cream. Don't look at me like that. It works perfectly and I challenge you to give it a shot.

I mean how awesome is the idea of printing on fabric? I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me. Of course, I rushed right out and picked some up for myself (in the quilt section of the craft store). Even though I haven’t actually made anything yet, it still makes me happy knowing I can.

The downside to buying printer ready fabric, is it’s pretty expensive. I found this great tutorial on how to make your own printer ready fabric at HP:

Now I have a printer similar to the one pictured, so please check to see if your printer manufacturer has any specific instructions of it’s own before trying this.

-And is it just me, or does skittle vodka sound like the most awesome thing ever? After seeing this post from Lutine on Livejournal, I just knew I had to give it a go:

I can’t wait till I’m not so broke!

Also, I made the best burgers EVER for dinner tonight. It’s called the Smokin Chicken Burger from Rachael Ray.

Seriously, how can you go wrong with ground chicken, mushrooms, onions, and red wine sauce? The mushrooms kept the patties ridiculously moist and flavorful, and the red wine sauce added the perfect twang.

I didn’t have any bacon, but I’m pretty sure my brain would have exploded if I had put two slices of peppered bacon on each burger. I’m making this next week as well. I’m not a big beef fan and it’s nice to have a go-to recipe for when you’re craving a burger.

-I made the picture above using a free Polaroid program. You can find it here.

Keep in mind that Shrink Plastic can shrink 30 to 50%. You’re gonna want your image to be a lot larger then what you’re hoping the end product will result in.

Just look at my pictures:

The size difference is HUGE.

Directions:

This really couldn’t be simpler. The first time I tried this I bought regular clear shrink plastic. (This means you can’t use it in your printer, and you need to sand the surface if you are planning on using colored pencils.)

All I did was print out the image I wanted to use, in this case two pin up silhouettes, and traced them onto the plastic with a black sharpie.

Then I cut out the image and punched a hole in the plastic (with a regular hole punch) so I would have someplace to attach the jump ring.

Next, put the Shrink Plastic in an oven or toaster oven (on a piece of parchment) at the recommended temperature, mine was 300 degrees Fahrenheit, for two to three minutes. You will be able to tell it is done since the plastic will curl up some and then flatten out. Once that happens wait about 30 seconds and then pull them out.

Larger pieces will curl more and I’ve found it easiess to use a piece of parchment paper, folded a bunch, to flatten the object as soon as you pull it out of the oven. (If you try this and the parchment sticks, don’t mess with it for a minute and once it has cooled a little the paper will come right off. Don’t pull too much.)

After your plastic has cooled, all I did was add a protective coating using a spray sealer and add the earring hardware.

It's seriously that easy.

Once you get a hang of using the Shrink Plastic, I recommend trying all different types. My favorite one has to be the plastic specially made for your inkjet printer.

The options are endless and I’ve made all sorts of things from this stuff.

You can also use regular #6 plastic (like the to-go containers a lot of take out places use- just check the bottom for the number 6 surrounded by the arrows). You can find directions for it at the Poopscape link the top.

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Welcome

My name is Alana and this is my blog.

I started Sunshine and Bones when I decided I needed a place for creative content. I am still figuring out exactly what direction I want to go in with this blog, but as of now I talk about food, music, movies, books, and crafts the most.

Book Rating System

10. One of the best books I have ever read and you’re crazy if you don’t run out and get the book immediately
9. Damn near perfection
8. Excellent – some laughing and/or crying involved
7. Very good
6. Good, but might not be for everyone
5. Blah – essentially neutral
4. Bad, but for some reason I still needed to know what happens in the end
3. Horrible, barely readable
2. One of the worst books I have ever read
1. Should be included in Dante’s seventh circle of hell for violence against art
0. Didn't finish

Ratings 6-10 are in the golden circle and are recommended without reservation.